With all the flopping and diving that goes on in basketball and soccer at the slightest contact, is there any particular player that has developed a special reputation for the opposite extreme: NOT doing so even when fouled hard? Being fouled hard and fragrantly and still bouncing up immediately like nothing happened?
Also, has the anti-flopping outcry in soccer reached anywhere near the anti-flopping outcry in basketball?
Try watching Big Ten basketball during the conference season.
If anything, those two sports should be reversed. In fact, there have been two episodes of The Simpsons where flopping in soccer played a major part.
However, flopping in basketball has gotten to the point where, starting this year, the NCAA men’s basketball rules now allow for instant replay to be used where a Flagrant 1 or 2 foul is called to see if the “fouled” player actually flopped.
I recall a commentator during the last soccer World Cup mentioning the US players were known for not flopping – just playing through even a legitimate foul like “real men” – but I don’t recall a particular player being lauded for this.
Mezzo is known as not being a flopper. Ronaldo on the other hand flops more than a beached whale.
The big men in basketball don’t usually flop, as it’s counterproductive to their job. Besides, it hurts when your head falls seven feet before hitting the floor. Guards are a different story (James Harden, anybody?), but Wesley Mathews, a.k.a., “Iron Man” comes pretty close to being the anti-flopper. They all will often ‘sell’ the foul to some extent, just to make sure the ref sees it.
If I recall correctly (and this is not the same thing, exactly), Kobe Bryant has a reputation for not making any special effort to take charges.
Now explain something to me…I’ve seen replays where guards taking a charge fall backwards as they’re getting charged…and I’ve seen that called flopping.
The fuh? I’m supposed to stand there and get annihilated? No…I’ll fall backwards some to lessen the impact. No, i won’t act like I’ve left a me sized hole in the wall behind me…just as in soccer if the guy gets my feet, I may ‘make something of the foul’ by going down…but I’m not going to roll into the bleachers feigning injury either*
*one time…ONCE…in indoor soccer, while in the box I stepped on the ball and to hide my embarressment I threw my legs up like I’d been cut down.
One ref called the foul and at half-time said to me, “Nice dive. The other ref came over to me and said ‘he fooled you’”
Well, people who failed to dive have ended up losing a World Cup final because of that. Just ask Arjen Robben.
Messi does have a reputation for keeping on going when others would have hit the floor, but it’s partially a bit of hype and I’m sure plenty of counter-instances can be dug up.
Now, it’s important to understand that 1) not all sports are supposed to be rugby. Being strong and capable of withstanding pain is not the only worthwhile feat of athleticism. And 2) FIFA refuses to use electronic refereeing (something about the same rules being applied in the poorest league and the richest) and therefore there’s always an advantage on cheating a fallible human referee.
He plays on the same team with Suarez, Busquets and Neymar. They take up the diving quota.
As it is, a Gatorade Adplayed on him refusing to dive.
BR has a list of those who don’t.
nm